Suggestions

Lecture 1: The Legend of Galileo

What are the principal features of the legend of Galileo's encounter
with the Inquisition?

Lecture 2: Galileo and the Renaissance

1. Describe the cosmologies of Aristotle and Ptolemy, and discuss their
advantages and disadvantages.

2. Describe the way the ancient Greeks explained the motion of
projectiles, and the improvements made by the medieval philosophers.
What contribution did Galileo make towards a solution of this problem?

Lecture 3: Galileo the Physicist

1. What was Galileo's most important contribution to the development of
science?

2. How did Galileo establish the connection between the distance a body
falls and the time taken?

3. What was Galileo's contribution to hydrostatics?

Lecture 4: Galileo the Astronomer

1. What were Galileo's most important astronomical discoveries, and how
did they affect the cosmology of Aristotle?

2. What are the main arguments for believing that the earth moves round
the sun?

3. Was Galileo a Platonist or an Aristotelian?

Lecture 5: Galileo and the Inquisition I

What is Cardinal Bellarmino's argument that the claims for
Copernican astronomy cannot simply be dismissed as being irrelevant to
the Bible?

Lecture 6: Galileo and the Inquisition II

How does Galileo respond, in "The Letter to the Grand Duchess
Christina," to the claim that Copernican astronomy challenges the truth
of the Bible?

Lecture 7: Galileo and the Inquisition III

What role do the different senses of "hypothesis" play in the dispute
between Galileo and the Inquisition?

Why is it important to distinguish between discipline and doctrine in
examining the actions of the Inquisition with regard to Galileo?

Lecture 8: Galileo: Theologian

How does Professor Carroll's analysis of Galileo as biblical exegete
challenge the long established view that Galileo anticipates the modern
distinction between the Bible and science?

Review questions for the final examination:

William Carroll

1. How does the "legend" of Galileo's encounter with the Inquisition
compare with the historical record described in the lectures for this
course?

2. In what sense is Galileo a good Aristotelian and in what sense
does he reject Aristotelian thought? between Galileo and the
Inquisition?

3. How do the events of 1615 and 1616 constitute the crucial core of
the "Galileo Affair"?

4. What were the decisions of the Inquisition and the Index of
Forbidden Books in 1616?

5. Why is there such a concern among many of the interlocutors as to
whether or not there is a demonstration for the motion of the Earth?

6. Examine the claim that Galileo's "Letter to the Grand Duchess
Christian" is a charter document of the modern world.

7. Why did the authorities in Rome in 1632 and 1633 find that
Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World System required a
formal investigation by the Inquisition?

Peter Hodgson

1. What was the main source of Galileo's ideas on natural philosophy?

2. Why did Galileo believe that the earth goes round the sun, and how
did he answer the arguments of the Aristotelians against this view?

3. Describe Galileo's work on sunspots, and show how he refuted
alternative explanations.

4. Examine critically Galileo's explanation of comets.

5. Why did Galileo become involved in so many arguments with other
scientists? Was he always fair to those who disagreed with him?

6. What was the role of thought experiments in Galileo's arguments?

7. Describe some of the scientific instruments that Galileo made, and
their importance for his discoveries.

8. To what extent did Galileo show political skill in spreading his
ideas?

9. Discuss Galileo's relations with Kepler and the extent to which he
accepted his ideas.

10. Assess Galileo's contribution to the development of our ideas of
motion.